ERS Releases Report on Syracuse City School District

ERS released today our report on the Syracuse City School District (SCSD). The report shows how Syracuse is in a strong position to improve and deliver on its promise for all children, but that to succeed, dramatic action is still necessary. A Strategic Spending Review of Syracuse City School District presents six recommendations that would help the district ensure highly effective teaching, more targeted individual attention for students, and strategic use of in-school time. These recommendations culminated from the participative community “work-out” process that was held in Syracuse in response to ERS research results also presented in this report.

“Syracuse provides powerful examples for how a community can collaborate to make the tough trade-offs these tough times require,” says ERS Director, Stephen Frank, author of the report. “We are hoping this report provides both the evidence and guidance for how to leverage all that they’re doing right into transforming the system to truly succeed for all the children.”

The report emphasizes that Syracuse’s commitment to Say Yes to Education is a key first step for focusing the district on a goal and aligning resources to reach that goal. The process provided a solid foundation for succeeding as a community in the recent multi-sector effort to meet budget cutting demands. The strategic decisions that resulted from this process successfully targeted areas that least affect instructional quality.

A Strategic Spending Review of Syracuse City School District